There is another important point to note: the Bank of France holds almost 90 per cent of the gold reserves of the BCEAO, and therefore of the WAEMU countries, estimated in 2017 at 1,174.234 ounces, or nearly 36.5 tons. In general, central banks store their own gold reserves, except in very specific historical circumstances, since gold is the currency of currencies.

Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa's Last Colonial Curr…, loc. 245